Wild Horses/ UFO Detection

In the first hour, George Knapp was joined by wildlife ecologist Craig Downer to discuss America's magnificent wild horses that have been unfairly targeted for elimination in what he calls the Wild Horse Conspiracy. One of the most noble pieces of legislation was the Wild Horses and Burros Act (passed into law in 1971), said Downer, but since that time the BLM has sought to reduce the wild horse population to make more land available for ranchers' cattle. Reform is needed now in Congress, such as the Restore Our American Mustangs Act, he stated. People claim that the horses are an invasive species, but they are actually indigenous to North America and evolved here, he argued, adding that complete habitats for long term viable populations of 1,000 or more animals are crucial.

Horse advocate Jerry Reynoldson joined Downer in the second hour, and talked about Madeleine Pickens' eco-sanctuary plan to take 1,000 horses onto 550,000 acres of public land, for less taxpayer money than what the ranchers are currently being paid. He noted that the competition for public lands and resources is very intense, and because the wild horses don't offer a revenue stream, the BLM tends to side with the ranchers. But Pickens wants to involve the public, with plans to build a children's learning center and campgrounds at the horse sanctuary site, he detailed.

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In the latter half, Director of the National UFO Reporting Center, Peter Davenport, discussed his revolutionary proposal (PDF file) for detecting UFOs in near-Earth environment, out to a distance of around 250,000 miles. The plan calls for using a passive radar system in which signals could be analyzed to determine a target's size, location, and other details. For example, such a system would be particularly useful in identifying craft that are in our atmosphere, doing 20,000 mph, and making sudden right turns, he said. This detection data could be shared with scientists for analysis, and eliminate the need for government disclosure, which doesn't appear to be forthcoming, he commented.

Davenport said he is seeking funding for this project-- around $750,0000 is needed to set up a prototype of the passive radar system operating station (much of that cost would go toward developing the software for analyzing the intercepted signals). Ultimately, he foresees a kind of webcam system in which all the UFO detection information would be available on one public website in real time. He also talked about his UFO Hotline, which recently has received reports of spherical fireball-type objects.

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Knapp's News 3/18/12

George Knapp shares some recent items of interest, including his I-Team report on Madeleine Pickens' battle to save wild horses (pictured):